Spinal disorders such as degenerative disc disease, disc herniation, osteoporosis, spondylolisthesis, stenosis, scoliosis and other curvature abnormalities, kyphosis, tumor, and fracture may result from factors including trauma, disease and degenerative conditions caused by injury and aging. Spinal disorders typically result in symptoms including pain, nerve damage, and partial or complete loss of mobility. For example, after a disc collapse, severe pain and discomfort can occur due to the pressure exerted on nerves and the spinal column.
Non-surgical treatments, such as medication, rehabilitation and exercise can be effective, however, may fail to relieve the symptoms associated with these disorders. Surgical treatments of these spinal disorders include discectomy, laminectomy, fusion and implantable prosthetics. During surgical treatment, one or more rods may be attached via fasteners to the exterior of two or more vertebral members in a vertebral fixation system.
Normally when a rod is to be positioned within a fixation system, the rod requires bending and shaping to conform to precise curvature of a spine of a patient. This curvature can require bending of the rod in the sagittal, coronal and/or transverse planes of the patient. Surgeons typically predetermine the required geometries of the spine of the patient and then shape and bend a rod based on visual estimates. The shaped rod is then placed into bone anchors of the fixation system in the patient and the surgeon readjusts the shape and bends of the rod in situ based again on visual estimates in an attempt to best match the required geometries. This disclosure describes an improvement over these prior art technologies.